Introduction: Paul says that we are God’s field, how does He makes us that? In todays lesson we will discuss the 3 steps of becoming a fruitful field for God.
Preparation
-After choosing the field, there has to be preparation for it to be fruitful.
2 things that happen in the field preparation stage
+ Plowing-Process of breaking up the soil to expose the rich nutrient soil.
-Also Known as "working the soil".
-Spiritual Principle: God does spiritual working of the soil to get what He has placed in us to come out of us.
* We see this to be true when God commission Jeremiah to be a prophet, He tells Jeremiah this "I set you over the nations and kingdoms to root out,to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down...". Jeremiah 1:10
-Ways God works the soil of our life:
+Broken relationships
+Hard times
+Manuring-Adding any substance to the soil to accelerate and increase the production of crops.
-Also Known As "Fertilizing"
-Spiritual principle: God uses the manure of life to enrich the soil of our lives.
*Joseph understood this in Genesis 50:20, he tells his brothers "you thought evil against me, but GOD meant it unto good, to bring to pass".
Planting
After the field has been prepped, then comes the planting time. There is 2 truths that we need to be aware of. It is this:
+ Law of sowing and reaping
-This law is simply stated a farmer plants the seeds of what he wants to grow.
-Spiritual principle: To get the fruit of the Spirit in your life, you must plant the seeds, which is the Word of God.
* Galatians 6:7,8 says "Be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall reapeth. If he soweth to the flesh, he shall reapeth,
but he that soweth to the Spirit reap life everlasting."
+When does sowing and planting go on?
-Sunday school, Bible study, when the word is preached.
+Watering what has been planted.
-We water what has been planted by mediating and further studying that which has been planted.
Producing
This is the intended purpose of the preparation and planting stage. There two ways to show production, they are:
+Growth
-The seed begins to become bigger and shows evidence of the planting.
-Spiritual principle-Their should be evidence that God’s word has been planted in our life.
+Harvest
-This is the final stage of production and that is when the farmer can enjoy the fruit of his labor. Matthew 5:16: "Let your light shine before men that may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven".
Conclusion:
To be a fruitful and productive field for God, we must continuely go through the stages in our spiritual life. Just as a physical field must repeat the process every season, we must repeat it for every season of our life.
